


Unexpected

by Setcheti



Series: Masquerade [4]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-04-09 12:52:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4349528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setcheti/pseuds/Setcheti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vin's enforced convalescence had been less than pleasant thanks to a particularly stubborn bridge troll. And then a prince and princess came to his rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

Vin shifted on his bed and stared at the far wall of his bedroom. After wrenching his knee during a wrestling match with a suspect on their last bust two days ago, his doctor had told him to stay off it as much as possible until the swelling went down…and then Nathan Jackson had taken over his life and turned it into Hell under the guise of ‘following doctor’s orders’.   Jackson didn’t want Vin to walk around, didn’t want him out of bed, didn’t want him to be by himself – because then he could get out of bed and walk around.   He wanted Vin to take a pain pill every three hours and didn’t care that the drugs made the sharpshooter queasy, but he also wanted him to eat all kinds of things that would have upset his stomach under normal circumstances. And worst of all, he’d bullied and threatened almost everyone else into backing him up.   

It was times like this when Vin thought the world was lucky that Nathan hadn’t had opportunity to become a doctor. Not that the ex-paramedic wouldn’t have made a technically excellent doctor…but he had the bedside manner of a bridge troll and saw no reason to change.   Josiah had commented once that Nathan was just one of those people who get so wrapped up in trying to do everything ‘right’ that they forget they’re dealing with another person and not just a collection of symptoms and conditions.   He’d also been of the opinion that Nathan would eventually learn to do better, and Vin had to admit that the chemist was a little more personable and less of a bully now that Rain was gone. Nathan had definitely been too good for the likes of someone like Rain. 

Of course, since Vin privately ranked Rain right down there with skinheads and Klansmen, he was pretty much certain that she wasn’t good enough for anyone he knew – including some of the perps they’d busted. The sharpshooter usually impressed people as being laid-back and easygoing, even shy, but he could be more hard-assed than Judge Travis and more unforgiving than Chris.   He still wasn’t entirely happy with Nathan, either, but since that had basically come down to a choice between happily making the chemist pay for his ‘mistake’ or grudgingly letting go of the mistake to make Ezra and Juliet happy…well, he’d chosen Ezra and Juliet and tucked his grudge away where no one could see it. Being laid up and having Nathan start his troll routine on him was definitely making his feelings harder to hide, though. 

A double buzz from the doorbell startled Vin out of his thoughts and let him know that the next shift had arrived; he wasn’t supposed to get up to let them in, so he settled for yelling at whoever it was when he heard the door open. “Go away!” 

Footsteps, and then a head poked around the side of the door…nearly a foot lower than he’d been looking for one. “Are you sure?” Juliet asked him, smiling. 

Ezra appeared right behind her. “I believe someone is suffering from a surfeit of overenthusiastic caretakers,” the Southern undercover agent quipped with a grin. “Good morning to you too, Vin.” 

Vin couldn’t help but smile back; his Saturday was suddenly looking a whole lot better. “Did you eat breakfast yet?” Juliet wanted to know. 

“Yeah, I got somethin’ when I woke up.”   He could actually admit that to these two without getting yelled at or grilled about using his crutches. “But there’s still a couple boxes of donuts in the kitchen if you…” 

“Thank you for the offer, but we already ate breakfast as well,” Ezra said, making a face at him. “Now would you like some assistance getting out of this dark hole of a room?” 

“Wouldn’t say no to some help.” Walking to the kitchen and back _had_ hurt some – enough that he’d taken a pain pill when he came back to bed. And it was a relief that someone had finally noticed what he’d been complaining about all along; his bedroom was small and dark and aggravated his claustrophobia if he stayed in it too long while awake. Vin started to throw off his blanket and then remembered exactly what state of undress he was in. He blushed and pulled the blanket back up around his waist. “Um, that is…” 

“I think I’ll go see exactly what _is_ in the kitchen,” Juliet said, correctly divining his problem. “I need to find out what I have to work with.   You two yell if you need me.” 

“I think we can manage,” was Ezra’s reply. The two of them exchanged a look that might as well have been a kiss before Juliet disappeared again, and then the undercover agent turned back to his friend with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’ve risked goin’ commando…” 

Vin snorted. “I ain’t that stupid – with everyone traipsin’ through here like they have been? It was just too hot in here to wear anything but my boxers.   I’ve got some old sweats over there in the dresser…” 

Ezra got out the sweats and a comfortably worn t-shirt to go with them and matter-of-factly helped Vin to get dressed before offering one crutch and a supportive shoulder to get him out to the living room. Juliet had apparently stopped there before heading into the kitchen because there was already a place prepared for him, a box with a pillow on top placed between couch and coffee table to support his leg and an end table dragged within easy reach so he wouldn’t have to move around too much once he was comfortable. “Ez,” Vin said, settling into his spot with a sigh and letting the undercover agent help him get his leg up on the pillow, “you have got to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth, you know that?” 

“I know it quite well,” Ezra replied smugly, dropping into the nearest chair. “Thank you for mentioning it, however, I do love being reminded.” 

Vin grinned. Yes, it was very worth holding back his grudge to see Ezra happy…not to mention that now he was reaping an unexpected reward from it. “She’s lucky too.” 

“Incredibly,” Juliet said, reappearing back out of the tiny kitchen.   She put a glass of orange juice with crushed ice in it down on the end table for Vin and then leaned on the back of her fiancé’s chair, running her fingers through his hair.   “I’m marrying a dashing federal agent who could give James Bond a run for his money.” 

Ezra blushed, and Vin laughed out loud for the first time in three days. Oh yeah, it was shaping up to be a good Saturday. “Sounds like you’ve got Ez pegged, all right.” 

The undercover agent’s blush deepened and he gave Vin a look that promised revenge. “So, darlin’, what is the verdict on the state of Mr. Tanner’s larder?” 

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be happy to know that whatever was in Nathan’s Tupperware bowl is gone now,” she answered with a wink at Vin. “We are absolutely going to have to teach that man to cook, what he does to good food is inexcusable.” 

“Buck’s just as bad,” Vin observed casually.   His grudge camouflage was back up and running again; Nathan wouldn’t receive any more criticism than anyone else did today. 

“Yes, but at least Buck perpetrates his atrocities on junk food…” 

“Most of what Vin consumes is junk food as well,” Ezra pointed out with a smirk. 

“I know why Vin eats junk food, it’s cheap and it’s fast, ” Juliet countered. She shook her finger at Vin in a mock scold. “Well not today, Vin; today you eat real food and I’m going to the store to get some right now. Is there anything in particular you want?” 

“I have macaroni and cheese already…” Vin began. 

“No, you had a box of artificial powdered cheese and the noodles had a weevil in them,” Juliet corrected him. Ezra shuddered theatrically at the mention of the weevil. “But if you want macaroni and cheese I’ll make you some.   Don’t feed him while I’m gone, Ezra – I found three empty boxes of powdered-sugar donuts in the trash and he doesn’t need any more.” 

Vin blushed but recovered himself. “My wallet’s back in the bedroom…” 

“We’ve got it covered,” Ezra assured him. “Be careful, darlin’.” 

“Always, Ezra. I’ll be back directly.” 

Vin didn’t understand the caution until Juliet stopped at the door to arrange her purse strap so no one could snatch it off her shoulder.   “You’re plannin’ to _walk_ to the store?!” 

“Certainly, it’s only two blocks from here,” she said matter-of-factly.   “It would be silly to drive two blocks.” 

“But…” But she was already out the door. The sharpshooter gave his friend a disbelieving look. “You’re lettin’ her walk around by herself in Purgatorio and all you say is ‘be careful’?” 

“She’s a big girl, Vin – figuratively speaking, of course,” Ezra told him. “And Juliet lives downtown, remember? She knows how to walk the city streets in safety and she is perfectly competent to defend herself if some misguided soul attempts to accost her, although even in Purgatorio ah don’t see that happenin’ in broad daylight on a main thoroughfare, do you?” 

“Guess not, when you put it that way,” Vin replied. He could tell that the undercover agent was uncomfortable with the situation as well from the way his accent had thickened, but he had the feeling this was an argument Ezra had already had with his fiancée and lost. “She knows how to protect herself, huh? She have pepper spray or somethin’ like that?” 

“No, she knows Jujitsu,” Ezra replied. He grinned at Vin’s surprised but doubtful look. “Rest assured Juliet knows quite well that even so equipped she could easily be overpowered; that is why when her brother and his compatriots taught her self defense they concentrated on techniques to facilitate escape rather than attack.” 

“Her brother? He in law enforcement or something?” 

“Something – he is a firefighter.” Ezra relaxed back in his seat. “I met the entire family when we flew down for New Year’s, we had an extremely pleasant visit.” 

Vin was happy to hear that; he’d wondered how Ezra’s trip to Louisiana to meet his future in-laws had gone but hadn’t gotten a chance to ask him about it. “They like ya, then?” 

“Apparently. I was rather disconcerted at first to realize I had already been accorded family status as one of Mrs. Moore’s ‘boys’ along with Michael and Brian.” Ezra’s smile took on a slightly wistful quality. “I am unused to being treated as someone’s son. It was an experience that may take some time to adjust to.” 

“You’ll get used to it,” was Vin’s reply. “I didn’t know what to think either when Miz Nettie started treatin’ me that way, but once I realized she didn’t want anything and wouldn’t get bored of me and stop I started to like it. Hadn’t had anyone mother me since Mama died all those years ago.” He thought of something and cocked his head at Ezra. “Was there ever anyone like that for you, Ez?   Someone to mother ya?” 

Ezra was silent for a long moment, and Vin was starting to worry that he’d ventured into territory he shouldn’t have; he’d met Maude twice, and they all knew she wasn’t any kind of mother to her only son and most likely never had been. He also knew that the medication he was taking tended to make him a little more talkative than normal and therefore less circumspect about what he said – which was one of the things he hated about taking medication but wasn’t able to get anyone to take seriously. “Sorry,” he apologized, just in case. “Didn’t mean to pry.” 

The Southerner blinked at him and then shook his head with a smile.   “Oh…no, you didn’t; ah just got lost in the memory for a moment. Ah’d been thinking about Rosa May earlier, you see, when ah was tryin’ to come up with some way to alleviate the boredom ah knew you were sufferin’ from.” 

“Huh?” 

Ezra’s smile widened. “I was tryin’ to think of a way to keep you entertained, somethin’ you could do to keep your mind off bein’ laid up. Rosa May was a housekeeper to one of my early stepfathers, and she had instructed me in a pursuit that I thought you might enjoy.”   He leaned over the side of the chair to retrieve the bag that had come in with him and pulled out what looked like a large black wallet, which he then unzipped to reveal two rows of variously sized shiny metal rods with hooked ends. He extracted a medium-sized one and then pulled a small flat package from the bag and tossed it to Vin. “Ah thought with your natural dexterity you would most likely be a natural.” 

Vin turned the package over in his hands; it was a new crochet hook, almost identical to the one his friend was holding. “Ain’t never tried this.” He cocked an eyebrow at Ezra, who was looking a little nervous. _Probably afraid I’m goin’ to laugh at him_ , Vin thought. _If he only knew_ … “How do you do it?” 

Relief was evident on his friend’s face. “I’ll show you.” Reaching into his bag again, Ezra took out two balls of yarn, one red and one blue.   He then moved to sit next to Vin on the couch and dropped the blue ball in his lap, keeping the red one for himself. “Watch me first and then I’ll help you repeat the procedure.” 

Vin watched carefully as the undercover agent’s nimble fingers tied what looked like a slip knot over the hook and then wound the trailing length of yarn over the fingers of his left hand. The hook began to dip and twist, pulling on the yarn, and a narrow red tail began to grow downwards. Ezra stopped when the tail was about six inches long and showed it to Vin. “That’s a chain, that’s how you get it started. Now let’s take your hook…” 

Five minutes later, Vin had a blue chain that was almost identical to Ezra’s and was watching his friend demonstrate different techniques to make the chain into other things. By the time Juliet got back from the store the sharpshooter had mastered single crochet and was working on double while Ezra was turning his own project into something circular and complicated-looking. “No, don’t get up,” she told her fiancé when he started to lay his work aside to come help her. “You know if you stop now you’ll end up forgetting your count and having to unravel everything. I can manage.” 

She dropped a kiss in his hair and then disappeared into the kitchen, from which almost immediately began to emanate the sounds of cooking in progress. Vin glanced over at his friend. “You do this a lot, then?” 

Ezra shrugged and blushed a little. “Ah enjoy it. When ah was a child, it was a way to keep my playthings with me as ah went from place to place; when the toy was taken away, ah could always count on bein’ able to recreate it as soon as ah was out of Mother’s sight, and the hooks were easy to hide as well.” 

Vin knew all about the inevitability of toys being taken away; in spite of the difference in social class, he and Ezra had had very similar childhoods. He appraised his own hook now in a different light. “See what you mean; this would go right along a seam in your clothes and no one would ever know it was there.” 

“And plastic hooks don’t set off airport security devices,” Ezra concurred.   “String is also easy to be had if one is looking for it, and a creation can nearly always be dismantled by the untying of a few knots and stored as an innocuous ball if necessary.” 

“Good thinkin’,” Vin approved, unraveling a few stitches to erase a mistake. “You can always come up with a reason for havin’ string.” 

There was something in his tone, something just a little…wistful?   Ezra cocked an eyebrow at him.   “And what exactly is it that you cannot concoct a reason for havin’ on hand, Vin?” The sharpshooter stiffened and Ezra made a face at him, pretending offense. “I showed you mine.” 

Vin relaxed again and made a face of his own. “Mine’s bigger,” he told the undercover agent. “Maybe I just didn’t want you to get jealous.” 

“Size isn’t everything.” Both men burst out laughing, and by the time they’d regained control of themselves Ezra had to unravel two rows of stitches. “All right, you reprobate,” he said with a mock frown. “Now I’m goin’ to demand that you show me as restitution for my loss,” and he held up the now-smaller red doily. “Confess, Vin; what embarrassin’ hobby have you been concealin’ all this time?” 

A mischievous smile lit up the sharpshooter’s face. “You’ve been leanin’ against one of ‘em ever since you sat down on the couch,” he said. 

Ezra jumped slightly and looked behind himself, seeing the quilt that was draped across the back of the worn couch. He brushed his hand across it lightly, staring at the softly colored fabric pieces that had been joined into an intricate pattern with tiny, even stitches.   “Vin, you…you _made_ this?” 

Vin was taken aback by the awe in his friend’s tone; it wasn’t a reaction he’d expected. “Uh, yeah. Quiltin’ was somethin’ Mama used to do, I kind of taught myself. Makes me feel like…” he blushed and looked away.   “Like she’s real close ta me, just right over my shoulder when I’m sewin’.” 

“Ah know exactly what you mean,” Ezra said softly. He shook his head when Vin looked at him in surprise. “Ya’ll nevah asked why ah stayed in Atlanta so long when ah was obviously not wanted there.” 

Light dawned. “Rosa May?” 

The Southerner nodded. “She was in a retirement home there, ah visited as often as ah could. She died just a few months before ah moved to Denver.” He sighed. “Like you with your mother, ah feel Rosa May’s presence very strongly when I’m workin’ on a project.” 

“Maybe we should get the two of ‘em together, then,” Vin suggested. “My mama and Rosa May, bet they’d get along like a house on fire.” 

Ezra seemed pleased by the suggestion. “Most likely – and I would enjoy it too.” He cocked an eyebrow at the sharpshooter. “I take that to mean you also are currently engaged in an ongoing project?” 

“Oh yeah,” Vin confirmed. A little bit of his grudge surfaced. “I was plannin’ to use all this downtime to get it done, and then that damn troll decided someone had to be here every minute of every day and I ain’t had a chance to get it out once.” 

“Troll?” It took a moment, but then Ezra got the reference and burst out laughing. “Oh, that was apt; that comparison will make my next medical incarceration much easier to tolerate.” But he sobered again quickly. “However, at least for today your difficulties are over; you can certainly put in as much work on your project as you care to while Juliet and I are here.” 

“Aw Ez, I can’t let you guys do that, just sit here and watch me sew,” Vin demurred. “Bad enough you two gave up your Saturday to be here, wouldn’t be fair…”

“It would be more than fair, I assure you,” Ezra cut him off. He reached for the black bag again. “It so happens I was hoping to get some time in on my own current project – which also needs to be finished in a timely fashion.” 

He put the red yarn and attached hook back into the bag and extracted what looked like a large spool of thread and a ball of…something fine and delicate-looking with a hook so small it looked more like a needle. Vin’s mouth dropped open.   “Ez, what _is_ that?” 

“Lace.” The undercover agent, to Vin’s surprise, blushed. “For Juliet’s weddin’ dress, to be precise.” 

The sharpshooter leaned forward to get a closer look. “Ain’t never seen nobody do anything like that, what’s that you’re makin’ it out of? Thread?” 

“Silk thread,” Ezra qualified, patting the spool. “Not the easiest medium to work with, but the result is certainly worth the extra effort.” He finished laying out his work on the coffee table and then stood up.   “Now where is this project of yours and I’ll fetch it for you so we can both get to work.” 

“In my room, the big green plastic box in the closet – all my stuff is in there, you can just bring the whole box out.” Ezra hurried back into the bedroom and was back in a few moments with the green plastic storage box in his arms. He settled the box on the couch next to Vin and then sat back down in his chair with an expectant look on his face. Vin laughed at him.   “Told ya mine was bigger than yours, didn’t I?” he quipped, popping the airtight lid off the box and setting it aside. “Really you shouldn’t be seein’ this…but if I can’t get some done on it you two aren’t gonna have a wedding present from me.” It was his turn to be nervous as he pulled out one of the finished blocks and held it up for Ezra to see. “The pattern’s called Wedding Ring. What do you think?” 

“I think it’s beautiful,” was the honest but stunned answer. The intricate pattern was warm with deep crimson and reddish-violet, the stitches so tiny it was hard to believe they’d been made by a human hand. “Vin, that is absolutely exquisite.” 

Vin colored up again.   “Glad ya like it,” he said, putting the square back in the box and starting to arrange his supplies where he needed them. “Glad I’m gonna get to finish it then, too.” 

Ezra made himself comfortable and started counting stitches to see where he’d left off. Both men were hard at work when Juliet came back out of the kitchen. “Lunch should be coming out of the oven in about half an hour,” she began, and then stopped and smiled when she saw what they were doing.   “Oh good, I’m glad the two of you found something to do. Vin, that’s beautiful!” 

“Thanks,” the sharpshooter answered. “I tried to pick colors you both would like.” 

“That marvelous creation is to be our wedding present,” Ezra elaborated, not taking his eyes off his lace. “Vin has been unable to work on it due to…the depredations of a particularly persistent troll.” 

Vin cracked up.   “Least this weekend he’s gonna be under someone else’s bridge.” he managed. Then he thought of something else. “Um, Juliet, do you crochet too?” 

“Oh heavens no, that’s my mother; fiber arts elude me completely,” Juliet told him. “But she can’t cook like Grandmere and I can so I guess we balance each other out.” She started to dig in the black bag beside Ezra’s chair. “That’s why she’s making my wedding dress and I’m making the cake.” 

Vin frowned at the pieces he was joining. “Ain’t that supposed to be bad luck? For the bride to make her own wedding cake?” 

“It would be far worse luck for the poor soul who tried to make the cake and decorate it to her satisfaction,” Ezra chuckled. 

Juliet made a face at him. “Vin, may I monopolize your television for a while?” 

“Sure,” the sharpshooter agreed quickly; he’d actually been feeling slightly guilty that he and Ezra would be mostly ignoring Juliet if they kept on with what they were doing. “Don’t have cable, though, ain’t too many channels to pick from…” 

“Oh, that isn’t a problem; I brought my entertainment with me.” That made Vin glance up, and he saw her unzipping a padded black-and-silver case and pulling out cords.   “I’ll put your antenna back the way it was before we go, all right?” 

“No problem.” It still hadn’t registered what she was doing until she sat down cross-legged on the floor and turned on the television…and picked up her controller. Vin almost dropped his needle. “You’re gonna play _video games_? Like JD?” 

“It’s not just a video game, it’s _Tomb Raider_ ,” Juliet corrected him. “Another teacher got me interested in it a few years ago and I’ve been addicted ever since. I own the whole set.” 

“Tomb Raider is an archaeological adventure and a surprising amount of the details are accurate,” Ezra said, his attention still fixed on his project. “I have to admit it can be quite enjoyable to watch her play, almost like watching a movie that can be changed to suit your whims.” 

“Your last ‘whim’ was to see Lara swan-dive off the head of the Sphinx,” Juliet teased. 

“I just wanted to see the panoramic view of the cavern the fall would provide…” 

“You made me do it three times running, Ezra,” she reminded him. “And you heckle Pierre in French every time he runs away.” 

Ezra applied himself very intently to his crocheting. “He is a craven coward and his accent is atrocious.” 

Juliet winked at Vin and turned her attention to her game, and the sharpshooter chuckled to himself and started stitching again. His quilt was that much closer to being finished, he could already smell something wonderful from the kitchen, and his bridge troll had been replaced by a prince and princess. It was definitely going to be a _very_ good Saturday - even more so because he hadn’t expected it to be.  


End file.
